# Feeling blue (in a good way!) | Fort Defiance

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/feed/145055
- Entity ID: wefunder:feed_item:145055
- Published at: 2021-05-16 18:39:30 UTC
- Updated at: 2025-07-09 03:20:15 UTC

## Author
St John Frizell

## Subject
Fort Defiance

## Content
Note: a version of this email was already sent to subscribers of the Fort Defiance Bugle. If you want to subscribe, click here!&nbsp;Dear friends,&nbsp;There's nothing in the world like a fresh coat of paint. I painted houses for a living in New Orleans, and never got over the transformative power of a new color in a familiar space — such a relatively quick and inexpensive way to change the way you perceive things. Until last week, the facade at 347 Van Brunt was a variety of reds, most prominently a purplish-magenta-red that reminded me of cough syrup. After some debate, we decided to go with Fort Defiance Blue (called&nbsp;"Star Spangled"&nbsp;by Behr), a bold, vibrant, and decidedly non-trendy color that really stands out on Van Brunt Street. A crew of Fort Defiance irregulars, led by construction foreman&nbsp;Kyle Garnett, got it done (and yes, that's the same Kyle that inspired our sourdough baking program last year — what can I say, the guy is good at a lot of things!).&nbsp;Over the next&nbsp;few days, you'll see Jonathan Averbuch and his crew out on Wolcott Street, constructing&nbsp;our outdoor dining room. Jonathan comes highly&nbsp;recommended by my old pal&nbsp;Kenta Goto, who I bartended&nbsp;with at&nbsp;Pegu Club&nbsp;in the early days of the cocktail renaissance. Manager Nora spotted the work he did in front of Kenta's&nbsp;Bar Goto Niban&nbsp;on Bergen Street, and we quickly got in touch. Jonathan's work is built to last, and responsibly constructed so it's easy to maintain. I apologize to our neighbors with cars for taking over a few parking spaces, but I promise the sacrifice will be worth it in the long run. The capacity of our new outdoor dining room will rival or exceed that of our indoor dining room in the old location.&nbsp;Also: we're in the process of completing the purchase order for a&nbsp;Polin electric deck oven&nbsp;— the single biggest investment we're making in the future of Fort Defiance. I won't get into the details, but chef Aaron will be happy to if you see him. What you need to know: this oven will greatly improve the quality, consistency, and volume of the baked goods we're able to produce, which means more&nbsp;bagels, and also&nbsp;croissants. And also: baguettes.&nbsp;Real baguettes in Red Hook&nbsp;— I've lived in this neighborhood almost 20 years and such a thing has never existed. Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands!&nbsp;Our&nbsp;crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder&nbsp;is wrapping up over the next two days — if you pledged to invest earlier but haven't funded your investment yet,&nbsp;now is the time! And if you know someone who's been sitting on the sidelines but wants to jump in, tell them: welcome aboard!&nbsp;My friends, I feel like we at Fort Defiance have spent months "in irons," to use a sailing term, bow in the wind, sails flapping about, lifeless. Now, I feel those sails filling with wind again, that little lift and shift of weight that tells you to trim the sheets and hold on tight. Better weather is on its way.&nbsp;That's all for now — I'll see you on the (significantly more blue) streets!St. John&nbsp;